Jealous Little Birdy
by MonkeySkittles
Summary: Diaval discovers first-hand what it means to be jealous, though the feeling is outlandish in a kingdom risen anew. He wonders if he should flee as the little bird he was meant to be. But Aurora would never see it happen. "Not in a thousand years," she would remind him, yet she'd turn and say the same to Phillip. Humans, he knows, are easy to be broken; jealousy is the first crack.
1. Prologue: A New Kingdom

In a renewed, lively kingdom, there stood a young woman, beauty and grace and happiness pouring from her every being, having just been crowned queen of the Moors. Her name was Aurora, and she had never felt more pure joy in her life. Her green eyes glistened with bright tears; the boy she had met in the forest, Phillip, was ascending the stoned steps to meet her once again.

"Aurora…" His voice was magic in her ears and she laughed jovially. "You look absolutely perfect. A crown suits you well, it seems."

She giggled in response. "It is not the fact that I wear the crown, but what the crown portrays. A new beginning, Phillip, for all of these creatures and I." He smiled contentedly, a warm gesture to accompany her warm words. The faeries and forest creatures clapped and hollered to their queen.

"It suits far better than I could have imagined," Maleficent cut in, grasping their attention from each other. "A golden crown for a golden girl, and as she has grown and will continue to grow, this kingdom, I know, will only prosper." Her ashen gown glittered in the sunlight, her wings wrapping around her body as her feet touched the ground. Slowly, having trailed behind her, landed Diaval, a grand skeptical of feathers shifting into his nicely dressed human form.

Phillip nodded to them respectfully. "I agree wholeheartedly." He turned to Aurora and grasped her hands. "What are you to do now, dear lady?"

Aurora pursed her lips and thought. The faeries had just recently been bestowed with their old home, a large change from a darker time to a lighter. "I believe – for the sake of all who had endured the darker times – we are to celebrate!" The excitement crept into the crowd and the faeries were already dancing together, a long hymn once sung in the better times. Maleficent showed her white teeth in appreciation of Aurora's kinder words.

"Let it be," she echoed, Diaval shifting again and flying high into the air. Many who could fly followed suit, circling the center of the Moors. As dusk set, the dance became faster and lighter. Aurora soon was claimed by sleep, an act which Phillip lovingly offered his shoulder to. She thought that his princely attire was soft, in the mildly scratchy sort of sense, similar to the yellow dress she had as a child.

Diaval had landed since the setting of the sun. He did not bother to have Maleficent shift him back; the view as a bird was always more rewarding for observation.

And observe he did, his eyes never leaving the young prince and Aurora, a sickeningly sweet sight. Diaval crowed softly. Sickening, indeed. The wind picked up behind his feathers and ruffled the long branches of the tree above the pair. Some dew threatened to fall, but a spark of blue out of nowhere caught the water before it could come close to them.

"You watch with a careful eye, Diaval. Is there something troubling you on a night of celebration?" He cawed once again, this time in alarm. Maleficent had somehow snuck up behind him in his observation, still clearing the blue aura of magic from her fingers. The faery's eyes flashed bright emerald for a moment and he felt himself growing heavier with skin and bone and hair, still an unfamiliar feeling after many years.

His gaze remained on the couple seated below the tree. "No, mistress. I am not troubled. I…" his voice grew suddenly weak, "I am just not used to another man watching her so closely, when you and I have done so for such a long time."

Her wings beat quietly against the loud atmosphere, though the atmosphere itself had begun to sink with the increasing amount of stars in the sky. She tutted, a flutter of the tongue to display her distaste. "A bold statement, coming from a crow." He glared at her shortly before returning to the affectionate couple. "Do not be offended, you know very well what I mean. Your nature is to fleet away from what bothers you, yet here you are, a silent protector, still feeling obligated to keep watch although she is safe and sound."

He opened his mouth to protest, but knew it would be useless. Maleficent was right – Aurora had thousands of protectors now that she was the ruler over the Moors. Hundreds of creatures who would take an arrow for her, like he would have done for her when she was still but a toddler.

"I hope this is not a display of jealousy, Diaval," she said, deliberately ignoring his shocked look.

"Absolutely not, my lady." He spoke as if her words were an atrocity. Yet, there was an imminent pang in his heart on seeing the prince nuzzling his nose into Aurora's hair. "I am not jealous."

The words were reassurance, but Maleficent knew they were not for her. She took flight, searching for the green, pink, and blue faeries for mild interrogation and planning for the future of Aurora's rule.

Diaval sifted a hand through his black hair. Phillip and Aurora could be happy together, and he would remain a crow, like all should be.

So… when did his silent watch turn into a heated glare?


	2. Chapter 1: The First Cracks

Chapter 1: The First Cracks

Dawn came, and with it, many faeries woke from their slumber. Sometime late in the night, the celebrating finally ceased, and it was back to tending the Moors. However, there was one creature who laid restless and wide-eyed.

Diaval did not sleep. He perched himself, watching Aurora and Phillip sleeping the whole night through, and he felt disgusting. He could hear the mocking now – 'jealous little birdy.' His sight was dulled by lack of sleep, but he didn't care about that. As soon as they woke up, he would probably get chased away at best.

But he could not tear his eyes away. Even as the sun rose and glared in his vision, he could not look away. It was only when Aurora finally opened her own that he could find the strength to let go of his gaze. The wind felt a little bit more chill and taunting. He jumped down from the tree and dragged his human legs away from the scene.

The soil of the Moors had become much richer. White flowers, or at least their buds, rose from the ground all about him, and he sighed. Aurora was perfect for the ruling of this kingdom. She matched the beauty of all that lived here, the flowers, the creatures, and all. He bent down to pick one of the bent flowers from where he stepped. It had snapped at the stem, but retained its splendor before his eyes. Fragile beauty in its essence. He studied the flower as if an enigma and continued his walk, an eventual – and significant – splashing sound failing to meet his ears.

"I may as well turn you into a sloth, as slow as you are moving this morning, Diaval."

Maleficent strode toward him with careful steps as to not soak her feet. He didn't even notice that he was standing in the center of one of the many ponds of the Moors.

"I did not receive much sleep in the night. I fear I may have gotten too excited about the party," he lied. He knew that Maleficent was too clever to fall for his excuse, and to his chagrin, she nodded with a small smirk.

"That tree must have been _very_ exciting, seeing as you didn't move from it until dawn." He looked down bashfully. "Regardless, I have a task for you. I was talking with Thistletwit – here, walk with me, Diaval." He trudged out of the small lake, shaking the water out of his boots.

"The problem is that, when Aurora was a child, just born, she was bestowed gifts from each faery. It is to this day that Thistletwit has not had the chance to bestow her own gift, as I had cut in and – well, you know," she trailed awkwardly. "The task I have for you is to figure out what Thistletwit's gift should be."

Diaval stopped walking once again. "What? How am I supposed to do that?" The scars on his temples wrinkled with his incredulous expression. Maleficent lifted her robes and carefully stepped on a mossy, wet stone.

"This is not an ordinary gift, Diaval. You witnessed it then, the gifts that changed Aurora's future. Flittle bestowed the beauty upon her. Knotgrass said she would never be blue, and that was only broken once, on my account, though quickly turned around on her leaving. I, before my bout of darkness truly came to fruition, allowed her grace and spirit. Thistletwit is now distressed upon not being able to give her own gift, and we have decided that you are the best candidate to decide what Aurora needs."

"I disagree." His objection was far too quick and Maleficent whipped her head toward him. "You, mistress, would be far more qualified to know what the queen needs."

"And I disagree with that. I understand where your argument is coming from, but think back to her younger days. I was careless. I did not look after her as much as you did. You expressed much more worry for her well-being than I ever could have," Maleficent said, placing a hand gently on Diaval's shoulder. "Consider this as my last request as your mistress."

Diaval looked straight at Maleficent, though she did not return his stare. "Is this… is this my final task?" His voice became higher with his growing smile.

"Let us discuss the details later. For now, we must keep focus on the gift."

"Very well, what will you have me do, then?"

Maleficent thought for a moment, then sighed. "Aurora is as happy as ever. It will be difficult to tell, but you will have to talk with her. Observe her a little bit, draw out what could hinder her performance as queen, or, I suppose, her performance in general. Remember, Diaval, this is not a light wish to be granted. It is not what she _wants_, but what she needs as a person that she will receive."

He scoffed. "You faeries always have your little quirks about everything you do. Very well, Mistress. I know what to do."

"Then let us finish our nature walk, hmm?"

"Certainly." And he felt feathers forming on his back just as Maleficent began to rise off of the ground. "Finish our nature _walk_. You cheeky woman," he said, but the words were a jumbled mess of caws from the back of his throat. He shook his small head and flew up to her, then they soared above the mountains to view the rest of the Moors.

The rivers never flowed in one particular direction, Diaval noticed. Where one large one laid, it branched off, curling to meet the sunken paths between the trees. Some pieces changed to a darker blue as the waters got deeper. Diaval had never seen such drastic landscapes in his life; the rule of Maleficent in her dark times was one of determination to destroy the men of the neighbored kingdom, so he, of course, never had the chance to just fly and look as he was doing now. Speaking of his mistress, apparently she decided to soar above the clouds, because he could not detect her presence in his peripheral vision.

Something else, though, from the corner of his eye caught his attention. In that one second, the sun turned from inviting and warm to scorching and painful on his night-colored wings. It was Phillip and Aurora, running the meadows of the former borders together. Aurora nearly tripped, but Phillip caught her easily, dipping her head low enough to touch the wildflowers with her tamed hair. They were laughing, a genuine act of happiness.

He did not want to see this. The sun was too hot, and dizziness swirled in his head. He swerved away from the scene, but as a result, Diaval violently crashed into a very large pine tree. The tree quivered with the force and a few needles rained to the ground. He had cried out in pain, voice lost in his animal form and piercing the sky, but nothing more. A shooting jolt in his shoulder only increased in intensity the further closer to the ground he got.

"Oh, goodness! Oh no. Knotgrass, come quickly, we have a bird down," Flittle exclaimed as his body began to grow as a human again. "Or… or not a bird, I don't know."

"What are you – oh good heavens, he's turning into a man!" Knotgrass covered her eyes with her tiny locks of blue hair.

"Enough of that, you twit! We need Maleficent, quickly." Flittle zipped quickly from Diaval to Knotgrass, a panicked muttering escaping her lips and her wings. They were both alarmed when a small gust of wind knocked them away from the wounded – and suddenly well dressed – servant of Maleficent.

"I am here. What happened?"

Knotgrass pursed her lips. "I dunno, Maleficent. T'was only a bloody, quite literally, companion of _yours_ who very well might have crushed us, if we weren't as nimble as we –"

"Fell out of the sky, right he did! Nearly cut the tree down with that beak of his –"

"Don't interrupt me, you rosy ninny!"

"Y'did the same to me, nasty blueberry." Both ceased their arguing when brown wings shut around Maleficent's body and her hand stretched toward Diaval, encased in turquoise magic.

"When did he turn to human?" she asked, mild alarm lacing her words together. Diaval scrunched his nose and shut his eyes as tightly as possible. "He should only turn if I tell him to."

Flittle clicked her tongue. "It's quite obvious, isn't it?" The tone in her voice made it sound like it should be the simplest thing in the world, but Maleficent looked back to the red faery with no understanding of what she meant. "Oh my gods… Knotgrass, we know something about magic that she doesn't!"

"We do?"

"Yes, the thing about the shifting. And the hurting."

Knotgrass frowned, eliciting a groan out of her elder sister.

"Alright, nevermind, _I_ know something about magic you don't, Maleficent." Flittle said nothing for a couple of moments before being given an expectant look. "Oh. Right. Well, a being that is shifted often, whether by their own magic or others', if hurt will shift into the form that supports a damaged body the best. In this case, it was either human or bird, and the magic chose human. Not that he needed it. It was only a little branch."

"Is there something wrong?"

Each faery gasped, sans the larger of the three, and they hid Diaval behind Maleficent's cloak. They turned to the approaching queen, her prince trailing behind, kicking grass off of his boots. The two smaller faeries giggled nervously.

"Aurora, dear. We weren't expecting you to be in this part of the forest," Knotgrass said, twiddling her thumbs.

"I was just out with Phillip on the borders… why is Diaval hiding behind your dress, Godmother?" Aurora asked, suspicious and a little out of breath. Maleficent blinked a long blink and released her fingers from the soft fabric on her cloak. Her godchild took a shaky breath. "What is this? What is wrong with him?"

"Beastie, I think it's best if you leave this to us," she said, moving her shoulders to the side and stepping back when Aurora approached. Diaval gasped in pain behind them and Aurora disregarded the suggestion.

"Diaval? Diaval, say something." She had crouched down so that she was eyelevel with him, but kept her eyes on his wound. There was still a little bit of blood trickling down his black satin coat and it tainted its silver buttons. A branch, about two centimeters in width, was protruding from his shoulder. It was small, but would have done a lot more damage if he had remained a bird. She, instead of touching the stick, lightly tapped his cheek, trying to elicit a response.

"He's conscious." Aurora looked briefly back to Phillip, who was still standing quite far from the tree. "Phillip, come help me hoist him up."

He hesitated. It was odd to Aurora, because it took a whole ten seconds before she even heard the clank of his sword against his belt. By the time he reached them, Diaval's eyes were already opening. They all jumped at the sound of his voice, though what he said was more surprising.

"Get away from me."

_**xxxxxxx**_

_**A/N: wow, thank you guys for the favorites and follows! I wanted to update today so that, one, a couple of chapters would be up before I get really into it, and two, I am graduating tomorrow, and I don't want you to think this is dead or anything (like, come on, it's been a day and you already want more ya greedy sillies). Anyways, to comment on a review a guest made; indeed, my friend, we will have to see exactly where the prince ends up in the circle of drama ;)**_

_**Until next time.**_


	3. Chapter 2: Tension

Chapter 2: Tension

"Did he just tell us to go away?"

"No, that can't be. He's just tired, and you know. Delusional, from bleeding and such."

"He definitely said 'get away from me,' did he not?"

"Phillip, quickly, please."

The prince reached down to help Aurora, but Diaval flinched strongly and stood, and not without a strained shout. Flittle and Knotgrass hid behind each one of Maleficent's horns in alarm. He ignored all of them and limped around the tree, a long groan wheezing past his lips.

"Wait, where are you going?" Aurora asked gently. He coughed, then gave a grim look at the substance the action left on his hand.

"Away."

Aurora stepped forward adamantly, but Phillip caught her wrist and held her back. "Leave him be, 'rora. If he wants solitude, give it to him freely." She looked as if she were about to cry.

"Godmother, tell me he'll be alright. Tell me it's just a branch."

Maleficent frowned. "Of course it's just a branch, beastie. Don't let it bother you. Diaval has always healed quickly, it is only different this time since he changed forms before the process could begin. We will await for his return back in the center of the Moors." She rubbed her godchild's back and led the others through the heavier flora of the forests. Aurora glanced back, but Diaval was already out of sight.

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Breathe. Breathe, why didn't he know how to breathe? One step at a time, breathe, exhale. His forehead was littered with dots of sweat and his lungs ached for a proper amount of air, and he couldn't even say how much pain his shoulder was causing him. The branch protruding from his right shoulder was bent and crushed and, unfortunately, still embedded in his body. He felt every agonizing movement he accidentally caused when his arm twitched to steady himself.

Beneath the dense trees, he almost could not tell that night was falling upon him. He had been walking, or stumbling, for most of the day, if only to distance himself from his friends and his mistress. Diaval hoped that none of them made the mistake of following him.

Finally, after the aching in his heels became too much, Diaval knelt down next to a small stem of the many rivers. The fabric surrounding his knees became cool and heavy with water. The smell of his own blood was dimmed by the smell of flower buds and withered stone. His eyelids fell; he dipped his arm into the freezing current, allowing it to numb haphazardly before letting it up – then, he tugged on the accursed object still fighting to stay lodged so deep in his skin.

The scream he let out awoke many creatures who were previously sound asleep. He focused solely on what he pulled out, and to his relief, it was most of the length of branch. To rejoice, on his part, would still be a horrible idea, however. There was still something left of it and if he even dreamed of shifting to his bird form again, he had to get out sooner rather than later.

"This is my punishment, I know it," he groaned to himself. "Worse than being a dog." Diaval left humor aside and removed his coat, the drops of his blood drying with a brown sheen. He didn't bother to look at the state of his undershirt and removed that as well, wincing as the fabric clung to his wound. A flash of green sparkled in the waters and he knew that a guest had arrived to see what the commotion was.

A very tiny guest, it seemed, as a small emerald light approached faster than he took a breath.

"What in faeries' name are you doing out here_ screaming_? Some of us are trying to – oh, no. Oh, oh my goodness I am so sorry, mister Maleficent's crow, I didn't mean to yell." If Diaval could remember correctly, the twinkling creature hovering so close to him was Thistletwit, the faery that he swore to help.

"You're fine. At least you're as harmless as creatures in the night can get."

"Thank you," she squeaked happily. "Sorry though, birdy-man, I heard your cry and came to, uhm, investigate, I sur'pose. Y'sounded like a banshee, I swear it scared the wings off of me." Her blonde hair bounced with every word she spoke. Suddenly, her face went quite red. "And I just noticed, I suppose, that you are sort of naked. A little. On the top."

He let out a breath of laughter. "You certainly caught me at an awkward moment. I was about to bathe in the mid of night."

"I – yes, ha, that is good. Haha!" She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, despite that, I see you're in need of a little magic on your shoulder, yes?"

"…Yes. That would be much appreciated, thank you." Her demeanor changed quite drastically then, he saw. A trickle of green dust trailed from her fingertips, however small compared to his own digits, and floated gracefully to his right shoulder.

Thistletwit sighed. "I suppose that this is all I can do for you, since you're the one doing this whole… wish-y, Aurora related thing for me. I've never been good with that whole process of, you know, giving gifts, especially to little Aurora herself. My old idea died out, so I have nothing else to go off of."

"Maleficent did say that you were pretty desperate, didn't she."

"She _what?_"

"No, I'm kidding. But I will do my best, if it means repaying you for…" he paused to observe her finished work and was met with not a scratch, "…for your excellent service. I am –"

Diaval snapped his head to the left, abruptly ceasing his speech. He heard it almost immediately; the furious cracking of twigs, a light, controlled breath, and the distinguished, definite steps of queen Aurora herself. He kept his eyes trained in the direction of the approaching queen but turned himself toward Thistletwit.

"I think I heard Flittle calling for you. She must be worried that you've been gone so long," he said monotonously.

"Really? Oh, well I suppose you do have that super bird hearing or whatever. Anyways, I suppose we'll talk more on Aurora's gift later. Good day! Er, night!" And with that, along with a sigh of relief from Diaval, Thistletwit twirled in the air and toward the middle of the faery kingdom.

Diaval grabbed his slightly wetted undershirt and slipped his arms through them. He was extremely grateful for the returned ability to rotate his arm without wanting to shout. As for his jacket, it was useless at this rate, but he hoisted it over his shoulder either way. It was then that Aurora appeared in the open ground, and his expression softened on seeing her light green eyes sparkling with the stars.

The wind died down and the moonlight could not have illuminated the river with brighter silver light than it had already. He unconsciously fixed his hair, then walked up to Aurora.

"Pretty late to have you out and about, is it not, my lady?"

Aurora jumped, gasped, and nearly fell into the river all in the same movement. "Diaval! Thank goodness, I've been looking for you everywhere."

"You have? I don't believe it." Belief or not, Diaval was still flattered.

"Well, you'd better, because I procured quite a collection of scratches from the brush trying to find you out here."

"Liar. Show me, or you get no credit in finding me," he teased. She lifted her chin, pulled up the sleeves of her flimsy yellow nightdress, and stepped incredibly close to Diaval to show him evidence. His eyebrows shot up at the few, shallow scratches that decorated the lengths of her arms. He rubbed his fingers over a few of them. One looked deeper than the rest, and he purposefully avoided it in case it hurt.

"Looks like this one here might scar. Pity, you had such perfect skin."

Aurora shook her head. "Scars are neat, I say. Like little stories. You have a few, don't you?"

"I think so. Maybe a couple, you know, everywhere."

Her laugh was pure music in his ears. "Just making sure." She observed the couple scars on his face and her gaze found itself on his chest. "Oh, I haven't seen this one before – how peculiar." Before Diaval could say anything, her cool fingers were already grazing his chest, tracing the outline of the claw-shaped mark adorning it. Human touch was something he rarely experienced, but Aurora was something else – a gentle caress, like the brushing of leaves against him or the rain rolling down his skin.

He was blushing. 'Crows don't blush,' he thought to himself, 'stop that.' It got worse when she looked up into his dark, wide eyes, and immediately withdrew her hand.

"Sorry, sorry, I got carried away. Very, yes, very peculiar indeed," she said, and it was her turn to blush, a brilliant pink with her fair complexion. His heart kicked at the sight and he smiled. Aurora playfully nudged his chest. "Making fun of me, are you? Silly bird." He stepped back with a smirk and feigned that she put him in a daze. Unfortunately, he did not realize how close he was to the bank of the river and his foot lost grip on the loose top soil.

He toppled backward and was engulfed by the chilling water. When he surfaced again, Aurora was covering her mouth, trying not to giggle.

"Come on, Aurora. Did you even attempt to catch me before I fell?" He stuck his hand out expectantly, little drips of water littering the ground where the sand just reached the currents. She let a strained noise or two slip from her lips, either laughter or denial toward his question.

When their hands met, Diaval immediately pulled her in with him, waking even more of the forest than before with his loud snickering and her splashes of protest. Once again, the moonlight created a display of pearly light on the river's surface. Diaval ignored it just this once, just in this moment so that he could glimpse at her before Aurora had to return to her prince and her royal duties.

But neither of them could ignore the unmistakable, resonant strain of a sword leaving its scabbard.

_**xxxxxxx**_

_**A/N: This is. Amazing. The response that you guys have given me so far is absolutely wonderful.**_

_**As you can tell, our story here is definitely not done. Suffice to say, it is far, FAR from over. I mean, not super far. But far.**_

_**Thank you to those of you who wished me best in my graduating! I am very excited to move forward in my future (and completely plan on not doing anything but writing this summer because I'm a lazy thing). I am also glad so many of you are reviewing, as I am glad you all enjoy Diavora as much as I do. Criticism, as well, is openly welcome. Find any mistakes? Tell me! Find something 'bothersome' or 'repetitive' in my work? Let me know how I can do better. This is practice for me and I welcome any and all advice that you wish to give.**_

_**Once again, until next chapter.**_


	4. Chapter 3: Protector, Protected

Chapter 3: Protector, Protected

Diaval and Aurora hastily steadied themselves in the river and faced who had interrupted them. Aurora was first to react to prince Phillip standing at the edge, hand wrapped weakly around the hilt of his sword. It was pointed straight at Diaval's throat.

"Phillip! What are you doing? You don't have to pull your sword, we were merely playing in the river," she explained, showing him a nervous smile. Phillip's grip on the sword loosened enough so that the tip of it was just barely cutting the water. His eyes stubbornly remained on Diaval, searching for bad intentions before speaking.

"I was worried for you, Aurora. I cannot fathom why you decided to sneak off in the mid of night, but it was in my full suspicions that this bird had something to do with it." Phillip slowly pulled the sharp blade back to its scabbard.

"I promise you, I came here on my own accord," she said, wading through the water to meet the prince who already had his hand stretched out.

"You couldn't have at least waited until morning, 'rora?" Despite her being completely drenched from head to toe, he engulfed her in a large hug. "Nearly killed me when I thought you'd been taken away."

Aurora gladly returned the hug, and upon releasing, she grasped the sides of his head with her palms, brushing her thumbs on his temples. "No need to worry, then. How did you find me, though? Not that I was hiding, or anything, of course!"

"My brothers and I all had to learn basic tracking. Our father knew that we would be out on our own at an early age, whether hunting or battling for our kingdom. I thought it would work excellently in this situation, and as long as I do not have to use my sword on _someone else_ here, then we can return you to the throne, my lady." The 'someone else' mentioned climbed out of the river himself, wringing out his now dark, charcoal colored undershirt. The hole where the branch previously protruded sagged and tore a little more with the heaviness of the water.

Nothing Maleficent couldn't fix.

"Absolutely ridiculous," Diaval muttered as Phillip practically pulled Aurora away, his hand secured protectively at the small of her back. The trail they walked became wider as they went along, but though there was room for Diaval to walk alongside them, he decently allowed them their space and strolled further behind them.

Even if it wasn't directed toward him, Aurora's voice talking to Phillip was soothing and reassuring. She was obviously resolving the misunderstanding that the prince witnessed earlier. Somewhere deep down – but not as deep as he'd initially hoped – he wished it did not have to be a misunderstanding at all.

The young couple ahead of him were too enthralled in conversation and laughter that they failed to see Diaval slip off to find Maleficent, his resentment of choosing to follow them trailing off of him like steam in the night air.

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"My, my, look at you. Looks like you really took a spill, hmm? Quite literally too, seeing as what's left of your shirt is half soaked," Maleficent mused, grinning at Diaval with brilliant white teeth. A couple of water faeries sailed by; they snickered with little blue hands grasping at his black hair. While Diaval delicately protested, tickled by their subtle tugging, Maleficent sniggered.

"I fell into a river. Is something funny? Would you enjoy turning me into a cat so I can groom myself dry?"

Her fingers twitched with golden magic and Diaval immediately regretted his words. His mistress became much taller and the stonework he was previously standing on was now touching his nose. Angered as a cat could get, he growled and pressed his new ears down on his head. "I get it, I get it. If you would please turn me back lest I begin purring." Honestly, trying to talk as a cat was a lot more unsettling as a feline than as a bird – his words came out as chittering and jolting whiskers.

He knew he was turning again when the fur of his cat body morphed to the usual pale skin he knew well. Or, as well as a crow could be familiar.

"Why, yes, Diaval. Something_ is_ funny," she said. She fixed a mossy-green scarf over her shoulders and circled around Diaval, examining him like he were an opened book. "What I find quite hilarious is that since the arrival of our little prince, your feathers have been – oh, how should I put this – especially… bristled."

The water faeries had, since his turn into a cat, scattered, so it was definitely the hairs on the back of his neck raising by themselves.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you don't."

"…I am merely still getting accustomed to what we discussed at Aurora's coronation celebration."

"Is that what you ran into a tree for? Because the little prince watches over her?" She laughed, a whole-hearted, genuine laugh of pity. Her wings bounced with each heave of her chest and Diaval squawked, having been almost hit in the head by her bronze feathers. "You are definitely a bird. Watchful and protective over what you consider your nest."

"Protec – I am not protective over her," he pressed immediately. "I did not come here to be made a fool of."

She reclaimed her composure, "Why did you come here, then?"

"I…" he was appalled. "I got a hole in my shirt."

And as dawn cracked again, sunshine peeking through crisp green leaves, Diaval wished he could fly into the sun, high above the clouds, because Maleficent would not stop laughing.

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Aurora loved the Moors. It was nothing like the stuffy cottage she grew up in, though the fights her Aunts had with each other were fairly entertaining. The Moors, though; the Moors had a life to it. The forests danced with the wind, the rivers grew and shrunk and filled and dried. A pulse, a heartbeat keeping everything around her alive.

However, it was getting difficult to appreciate the spectacular beauty when Phillip was constantly around her. She made an outstanding effort to keep him company because she understood what it was like to be a stranger in someone else's land. Aurora related to his situation, if she could call it that. The moment she set foot in her father's kingdom, a shudder fell down her spine, uncomfortable and eerie. Her father, even, was a complete stranger. Sure, they embraced, but after that she saw animosity and dejection glaring her down. He was devoid of kindness, unlike Maleficent.

She thought about it, and that last part might have been a bit different than where Phillip was at the moment.

"Aurora, I have to talk to you." She snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at Phillip. He had a shifting glance that refused settlement on her; it was odd to see him like this.

"Sure Phillip, what about?"

"Not here, though, maybe somewhere… private…" Her smile wavered.

"We are alone, if you don't count the woodland guardians," she said pensively.

Phillip settled his gaze on one of the tall, mossy giants. He became noticeably unsettled as one reached out in, what Aurora thought was, an effort to comfort the jittery prince. Aurora twirled around, her tan sundress raising above her knee and bare feet settling pointed toward the gentle beings. One bent down, a rooted knee almost growing into the dirt where it touched. "If you could leave us," she said. The guardians disappeared back into the fields until their next calling.

"I have to return home." He hadn't waited for her to face him again. When she did, her expression was laced with alarm.

"Is this because of the events in which Diaval and I… I'm still sorry in that I snuck away, but I felt responsible for some reason." Aurora tugged innocently at her own blonde hair. Thinking about Diaval falling backwards into the river and pulling her in made her want to smile so badly.

"I know, 'rora," he assured, "it is not you, nor the bird, that is driving me back to my father's castle. He sent me to King Stefan for business and my time here has run out. All I have to do is tell him what has conspired in your new kingdom, Aurora, and then I am hoping to tell him about us."

"Us?"

Phillip clasped her hands close to his chest. "Yes, us. He'll be so excited to know I've found the one I am meant to be with!"

His hug last night was so warm and inviting, but the one that he gave her in this moment made her spine trill with ice. "I will return as soon as I can. It is not my intention to leave you alone here, but I know you are far more familiar with the Moors than I am. I will be riding at midday. Can I expect the queen of the Moors to be there upon my departure?" he finished with a regal tone and slight grin, to which she curtsied.

"Why, your grace, I would not miss it for anything." He formally raised her hand to his lips and left her to prepare his horse. The wind blew too strongly for the morning, constricting her almost more-so than her dress after swimming in the river with Diaval.

The part of her hand where he kissed was cold, in no way similar to her first meeting with Diaval.

His fingers on her knuckles were rough and brash, unlike the delicate brush of Diaval's.

Phillip was royal and gentlemanly and the perfect suitor for a princess. Diaval was not Phillip. Diaval had nature woven through his hair, wild midnight eyes, and was unafraid of all that she knew.

What frightened her the most was that she could swear she saw a black bird fly overhead and hoped to the gods that it was _not Diaval_.

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_**A/N: Once again, guys, thanks for supporting this so much. I've been a bit slow the past few days because my parents were out and I was having a good time singing out loud in an empty house more than writing, forgive me. There will still be a few more events the next few days (weeks) but I am confident that you will stick with me through to the end regardless.**_

_**PS: I'm sure that you will enjoy what I have in store for our little prince. Or, maybe not.**_


	5. Chapter 4: Unclear Intentions

Chapter 4: Unclear Intentions

Midday struck and word of Phillip's leaving had already spread throughout the Moors. Maleficent, many other faeries, Aurora, and her woodland friends came to see him off. Diaval, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight, and it worried Aurora immensely. She thought about what may have driven him away from the occasion, but nothing came to mind.

She stepped up to the prince and accepted his embrace. "You promise me you will stay safe?" he asked. "Do nothing dangerous, for me?"

"Of course, if it means the same for you."

"If the lady wishes it, I will provide." It was then that a streak of black claimed the attention of many. The prince, anticipating the event, picked his voice up for his audience to hear. "And, before I go, I request a chat with the bird man." The respectful, courtly manner he spoke with was lost in the volume he used to speak it.

The 'bird man,' having just flown in, looked up with half-lidded eyes, gritting teeth, and a bitten tongue as to not accidentally insult the boy in return. Aurora placed herself next to her godmother and observed their interaction with open ears, despite them being too far to hear. They would have to shout, like Phillip's previous example.

Maleficent fully believed that it would come to that at some point.

"How may I be of service, prince?" Diaval put on a strained smile.

Phillip dropped his tone once more, low enough that not even the winged creatures around their queen dared to fly close and eavesdrop. "Listen well, Diaval, _servant_ of Maleficent. I will be gone for a few days, perhaps four. Aurora told me what happened at the rivers and I would like to apologize for the actions taken afterward on my account. She sees you as a close friend, I know it, and it was unruly of me to assume that you were out to harm her.

"But this does not mean that I trust you, _crow_, especially with my Aurora. If I hear word uttered of harm on her, another 'playful gesture' gone wrong, or you stepping over any boundaries that you know a decent person would align to, I will have your feathered head on the tip of my sword before you had the chance to flee – on foot or wings, whichever you are cursed with at the moment. If I can have your word that you completely understand what I have told you, then I will forget about you spying on Aurora and I this morning."

Diaval winced. His morning flight to alleviate some stress had taken him to the grasslands, but he had not anticipated running across the couple in the middle of whatever it was they were doing. The prince obviously spotted him and mistook it for spying.

"What do you –"

"She will trust my word over yours," he interrupted, "whether fabricated or not. I will exaggerate any details that I have to if it ensures that she is safe while I am gone."

Diaval frowned. He was about to argue, excuses burning on the tip of his tongue, but Phillip glared him down.

"Your word, crow?"

He bowed his head out of submission, not respect. "I promise to abide by your rules. Her safety won't be compromised."

"I mean not to make an enemy out of you, Diaval. Aurora is the greatest thing to have come into my life since I was crowned a prince and I will do whatever means necessary to keep her alive and well." Phillip visibly shook, whether in anger or slight fatigue from his long speech, Diaval did not know, and did not care. He swiveled on his heel and avoided eye contact with those who aimed to identify the emotions in them.

Phillip mounted his horse and offered one more wave goodbye, a curt and small gesture. His horse, pure white contrasting with the shadows cast under the thick canopy of forest, kicked dust toward Diaval's retreating figure.

Maleficent twirled her finger with black smoke, covering her servant in the same and gradually, slowly changing him back into a crow. He landed on her shoulder, scowling as much as a bird could. It was aimed at the trotting horse, trampling all in its path, and Diaval solely thought of it as childish and reckless.

The prince rode as if the Moors were his, as if Aurora were his, and as if the people of the lands were his to command. He wished to see what it was like for the little rodent to be pushed off of his pedestal by his father.

"The faeries are all wondering what you and Phillip were talking about, Diaval," Maleficent said, stroking his feathers lackadaisically.

Aurora agreed with a nod of her head. "You both were speaking so quietly, we were frightened by the sound of our own breathing!" Her subjects dispersed out of the grasslands and to their various damp abodes. She beamed at each of them if they looked her way, gleaming with a toothy grin at the mud-throwing lake critters. "I was initially uneasy that you were not present to see Phillip before his leaving, if I had done something to anger you or make you uneasy about him."

His scowl wore off at her words and he jumped from Maleficent's shoulder to Aurora's, nuzzling his head into her neck. "Alright, alright pretty bird, that tickles!"

"Come, dear, I still have a lot to teach you. Now is an excellent time to review the names of the creatures that live here."

Aurora dropped her jaw. "They all have surnames?"

"No, beastie. Don't be silly. Most have no ability to speak, so they are referred to as one being." The blonde queen breathed a sigh of immense relief. "What would you like to learn about first?"

"How about…"

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"So, the glowing blue plants are the early stages of the glowing green plants, but not the glowing _purple_ plants?"

"Correct," Diaval said, giving her a fully bloomed chrysanthemum as a reward. "Anything else you learned?"

She stepped over a fallen, hollowed log, barely seen in the rising white fog. "I told you most of it in the past ten minutes, my hair is full of flowers you picked, and my head hurts from retaining all of this knowledge. Can't we sit for a while? We have been walking for a long time."

"You've told me everything you know?"

She almost lost her balance on the root of an oak tree but Diaval held her forearm to keep her steady. "She did tell me about your first turning. Somehow, I did not have it figured out that you were a bird for a long time and then she gave you a human form. What was it like?"

"Oh, you know. I definitely was fully clothed and not dirty. There weren't dogs about to eat me, it was a great life."

"Sarcastic thing you are, Diaval. I meant, what did it feel like? Did it hurt?" Grabbing his face, she pulled his forehead down to hers, and for a second his whole world slowed to the touch. "Like bumping your head?"

Her eyes were thinned with a genuine smile and, at the sight of it, he abruptly ended the contact. "Y-yeah. Except, sort of stretchier and especially unusual. I had to walk on human legs for at least five days to get used to them, I don't know how you people do it every day even now." Aurora tilted her head, frowning.

"You do not like being human?"

"It is an experience. I really did not appreciate how I came to be one, forcibly changed and wings stripped from me unless mistress said _help me, I'm in need of a slave_. I wished for the longest time to fly far away and never return. This morning, I had the same urge, mostly spontaneous," he muttered.

"I certainly hope not!" Her unexpected shriek elicited a squawk out of Diaval and he stumbled.

"You really like making me trip, Aurora." She ignored his comment and pulled him deeper into the foggy grounds, her milky dress blending into the atmosphere almost perfectly. He, on the other hand with his stark black – and newly repaired – jacket, stuck out like an ashen star in a white sky.

"Never in a thousand years do I want to see you gone. I will trip you the entire way if it means you stay."

He smirked. "Is that what you wish? For me to stay with you forever?"

Aurora squeezed his hand, peered back with glimmering whimsical eyes, and said nothing. It was answer enough.

Diaval squinted as the mist got heavier. He barely saw the golden wisps of her hair bouncing in each step; it was odd, unnatural for the Moors to produce a natural blindfold that was so burdensome. He brought himself closer to Aurora and prayed they were not lost.

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Maleficent straightened her fingers, erasing the little traces of sparkling conjuration from them. Her seat in a taller, dense tree provided perfect cover to monitor her work. The vapor below wholly hid Aurora and Diaval from their surroundings, in addition to stray gazes of the gossipy faeries. Her scarlet lips curved upward as Aurora's bubbly laugh broke through the foliage of her hideout. Behind her, the tinkling of wings informed her that she had guests.

"Maleficent, what is the meaning of this? She might run into a tree, break her arm," Flittle scolded in a whisper.

Knotgrass rolled her eyes. "Maybe she'll break her arm by running into a tree."

"I will not allow that to happen," said Maleficent. "I am merely giving them time to bond."

"Bond?" The greenest of the four faeries tugged on one of the large feathers blocking her view. "Is this to 'elp the birdy man with my gift?" Thistletwit was lifted up by her tiny hand and placed in Maleficent's massive one.

"Correct."

"Preposterous! They will bond right after starving to death, trust me." Flittle earned many glares with that comment.

"That is not going to happen either. It was more an endowment, Phillip's leaving, in that Diaval can cease sulking and actually get on with the task I proposed to him. I trust that he will take this opportunity and become more acquainted with her." The four of them searched the fog, but to no avail – Diaval and Aurora were on their own.

_**xxxxxxx**_

_**A/N: They're all aloooonnneee…. I can't wait for you guys to find out all of this stuff that I have planned and uhghghghh. Just so you know, I do have my college orientation coming up in a couple of days, so I will be prepping for that and it might set me back a little, but I'll try my best to get these written (and written well, that's kind of important too), so don't fret if I am a little late. (I have a life! With friends. And people. Sometimes.)**_

_**Don't forget, I'm always looking for criticism or tips for my writing. I'm always trying to improve so your comments will be amazingly helpful. Thanks again and until next time, my friends.**_


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